After the final horn had sounded in Syracuse’s game against Georgetown, Hoyas head coach Dave Urick searched for John Galloway. He had some advice for the junior goalie.

 

‘I just recommended he get a lot of ice tonight,’ Urick said.

 

And after the matchup with Georgetown, Galloway probably won’t be the only player in need of an icepack.           

 

No. 2 Syracuse (3-1, 1-0 Big East) and Georgetown (2-2, 1-1) combined for 12 penalties on the day (eight of them after halftime) in what was the Orange’s most physical game this year. SU pulled out a 15-12 win at the Carrier Dome Sunday in front of 6,108 despite the brutal play. Many players were slow to get up after big hits — legal or otherwise.

 

‘I thought it got out of control for a minute,’ junior midfielder Jovan Miller said. ‘But I really wasn’t expecting it to be that physical.’

 

The hitting didn’t pick up until after the first quarter, but once it did, neither team shied away from contact.

 

About halfway through the second quarter, with Syracuse a man up, Georgetown gained possession after a Josh Amidon shot went wide. Goalie Jack Davis carried the ball toward the midfield line but couldn’t find any open teammates to dish it off to. SU longstick midfielder Joel White then poked the ball free and raced after it near the sidelines.

 

As he tried to pick up the groundball, Georgetown’s 6-foot-4 middie Scott Kocis charged at him, leveling White into the sidelines. SU’s Tim Desko then came over and popped Kocis when the ball had already rolled away.

 

But the hitting only escalated from there.

 

‘It’s not for the feint of heart,’ Urick said. ‘To be honest with you, I’m glad I’m on the sidelines because there’s a lot of bodies flying around out there.’

 

Early in the third quarter, Syracuse started working the ball around the offensive zone. Miller hit attack Cody Jamieson on top of the crease but the senior couldn’t control the pass.

 

Hoya defenseman Eric Bicknese picked up the loose ball just to the right of the crease and turned to carry it behind the goal. But junior attack Stephen Keogh was standing there waiting.

 

Keogh crushed the defender, sending him straight to the Dome turf where he lay motionless for about five seconds. Keogh was given an illegal body check penalty and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for the hit. When he finally got up, Bicknese appeared dazed and needed help getting off the field.

 

‘It’s not something we talk about or we strategize with,’ Desko said of Keogh’s physical play on the offense end. ‘I think if it happens with riding situations, then it does. Steve’s played a lot of boxed lacrosse. I’m sure he’s played some hockey in his day and can mix it up in riding situations and unsettled situations.’

 

After that hit, the referees began trying to get the game under control. The majority of their calls were for physical penalties, such as slashing and unnecessary roughness.

 

But the penalties didn’t lessen the physicality.

 

With five minutes left in the fourth quarter, a bad pass led to a scramble for the loose ball. White picked up the ball on the sideline but lost it almost immediately. It popped free toward the middle of the field, where Georgetown’s Chris Nourse scooped up the ground ball.

 

As he did, Miller came in and flattened the defender, knocking the ball loose. But he was called for an unnecessary roughness penalty on the hit. He immediately started jumping up and down and waving his arms around in disbelief at the call.

 

Urick said that by the end of the game, he was sure of two of his players that would miss some time due to injury. No Orange players suffered injuries, but plenty were slow to get up after taking hits.

 

Said Miller: ‘There was a few clean hits and few high ones and after that I think that the refs had to start clamping down just because it looked like it was getting a little bit out of control.’